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Castlevania Judgment
Castlevania: Judgment is the first Castlevania game on the Wii, and is also the first in the series to be a one-on-one versus fighting game. It was released in November 2008 in the United States, January 2009 in Japan, and March 2009 in Europe. Story See also Judgment Timeline Galamoth plots to send the Time Reaper from 10,000 years in the future into the past to destroy his rival Dracula, and change history. Aeon discovers this and pulls together champions from different eras of history into a time rift, in order to find a chosen one capable of destroying the Time Reaper. Like most traditional fighting games, there is a story surrounding each character Character Gallery See also Playable characters Image:Shimon 1280 1024.jpg|'Simon Belmont' ''The wielder of the Holy Whip. From : Castlevania Super Attack : Vampire Killer Image:Alucard 1280 1024.jpg|'Alucard' The half vampire son of Dracula. From : Dracula's Curse, Symphony of the Night Super Attack : Inferno Blade Image:Death 1280 1024.jpg|'Death' A god who swears his allegiance to Dracula From : Castlevania series Super Attack : Hell's Gate Image:Dracula 1280 1024.jpg|'Dracula' The Lord of Darkness From : Castlevania series Super Attack : Demonic Megiddo Image:Maria 1280 1024.jpg|'Maria Renard' A girl with mastery over animals '' '''From :' Rondo of Blood Super Attack : Group Cooperation Image:Eric 1280 1024.jpg|'Eric Lecarde' A boy entrusted with the devil's spear. '' '''From :' Bloodlines Super Attack : Alucard Spear Image:Carmilla 1280 1024.jpg|'Carmilla' A female vampire who loves to bathe in blood. '' '''From :' Simon's Quest, Circle of the Moon Super Attack : Heaven's Gate Image:Golem 1280 1024.jpg|'Golem' An artificial being that has an unnatural soul. '''From :' Castlevania series Super Attack : Thunder Beam Image:Cornell 1280 1024.jpg|'Cornell' A beast man who is under an ancient curse. '' '''From :' Castlevania 64 Super Attack : Blue Crescent Moon Image:Grant 1280 1024.jpg|'Grant DaNasty' The most agile man in Valachia. From : Dracula's Curse Super Attack : Million Edge Image:Ralph 1280 1024.jpg|'Trevor Belmont' The man who defeated Dracula for the first time. '' '''From :' Dracula's Curse Super Attack : Vampire Killer Image:Sypha 1280 1024.jpg|'Sypha Belnades' A witch who made deals with spirits From : Dracula's Curse Super Attack : Desintegrate Image:Shanoa 1280 1024.jpg|'Shanoa' Glyph Master who was deprived of her memory and emotions. '' '''From :' Order of Ecclesia Super Attack : Storm Glyph Image:Aeon 1280 1024.jpg|'Aeon' The Guardian of Time '' '''From :' Judgment Super Attack : 13th Hour Lament Non-Playable Enemies Image:Judgment Zombie.JPG|Zombie - A simple enemy Image:Judgment Merman.JPG|Merman - Another simple enemy Image:Judgment Minotaur.JPG|Minotaur - A sub-boss Image:Judgment Iron Gladiator.JPG|Iron Gladiator - Another sub-boss Image:Giant Octapus.JPG|Giant Octopus - A stage hazard enemy Image:Time Reaper.JPG|Time Reaper - The Final Boss for True Story Image:SotN Galamoth.JPG|(no in-game images) Galamoth - Seeks Dracula's throne Gameplay Castlevania Judgment is a 3D fighting game, complete with subweapons, hearts and generation bending characters. The game features several modes: *Story Mode (personalized stories for each character) *Arcade *Survival *Versus *Wi-Fi *Castle (travel through Dracula's castle) *Viewing Mode (music and art) *Accessories (enables you to customize the appearance of your fighters with your retrieved items) Connecting Order of Ecclesia to Judgement unlocks * Hard Mode level cap raises to 255 in Order of Ecclesia * Queen of Hearts item in Order of Ecclesia * Aeon and Shanoa in Judgement * New accessories in Judgement Development Shortly after a patent for the game Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the Nintendo DS was found, a patent for another game called "Castlevania: Judgment" was found. In late 2007, Iga had indicated that the next game Konami was planning on releasing after their third Dual Screen game would be a next gen game. At that time Konami was leaning towards making the game an Xbox 360 exclusive game due to the success of that platform in the United States. However, the July issue of Nintendo Power revealed that Castlevania: Judgment was a fighting game for the Wii, with character design by Takeshi Obata, famous for his work in Hikaru No Go and Death Note. About the decision to make a fighting game, Igarashi says, "I guess some fans may worry about the game quality, but I am confident that we can achieve a very high-quality game. I think that fans…will see that it stays true to the Castlevania series. Even though this is a fighting game I can guarantee that it will be fun.” When the game was first announced, six characters were confirmed: Simon Belmont, Dracula, Death, Alucard, Maria and Shanoa. Other playable characters include recurring enemies and bosses of the Castlevania franchise, and a new exclusive character named Aeon. Other non-playable characters roam the games stages, serving as obstacles that can be eliminated to replenish energy. These characters include common Castlevania enemies such as zombies and minotaurs. Criticism and Reception The largest forms of criticism for Judgment so far stems from two things: firstly, it is a fighting game and thus rather disconnected from the rest of the series; secondly, the character designs are quite a bit different from any others within the franchise. Addressing the second, the nebulous 'Castlevania feel' - a factor hard to quantify or describe - is often deemed absent, though the artwork is technically sound and the designs unique, varied and interesting. However, while the direction taken by the art is indeed revolutionary, the storyline fails to rise to this level as well, with players expressing irritation at the stock 'fighting game' character motivations and interactions (Maria's "pettanko" fixation on breasts, for example, and the cliché love triangle plotline amongst the CV III crew). Other critiques are directed at Alucard and Maria's unorthodox choices of weaponry with regard to their mainline canon counterparts. With regards to the former, Koji Igarashi has so far done a meritable job of explaining why they would develop the game as a two-player fighting game. However, it still stands to reason that playing a long adventure game on Wii using the motion controls would be very tiring - IGA himself admits that precise movements while wagging the Wiimote might require a superhuman degree of coordination. The Wiimote can still be used as usual, with the player able to control Alucard's sword and other weapons by swinging the Wiimote. Unfortunately, players have found the controls to be unsatisfactory, citing the limited directional movements of characters coupled with the largeness of the arena as a major stumbling block. The special attacks' animations, while indeed spectacular, are also time-consuming and deplete a disproportionate amount of a player-character's health. The reviews of the game vary between above-average and very poor. Overall, Judgment appears to be a case of a solid concept plagued by a lacklustre execution. It is hardly unique in this respect. It is an innovation within the franchise nonetheless, and perhaps subsequent efforts might alleviate Konami's "growing pains" with regards to Castlevania's 3D titles. Review scores * Publication Score * 1UP.com D-, * IGN 7.5/10, * Nintendo Power 7.0/10needed, * X-Play 1/5 See Also * Category:Castlevania Judgment * Category:Judgment Artwork * Category:Judgment Characters * Judgment Timeline Related Products * Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - Related games which can give each other bonus unlockables when the DS and Wii are connected * Castlevania: Judgment Original Soundtrack * GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V6 - Contains a rock version of Vampire Killer with scenes from Judgment playing. * Judgment Promotional Calendar - Preorder bonus in Japan * Official Koma - Comic panels associated with this game External links * Konami Official Page * Castlevania Realm * SuperVoodoo's Castlevania Judgment Article * http://news.filefront.com/konami-files-trademark-for-another-castlevania-title/ * http://kotaku.com/382262/castlevania-judgment-comingsometime * http://kotaku.com/5063502/i-wish-i-hadnt-played-castlevania-judgement * http://kotaku.com/5067403/koji-igarashi-precise-movements-hard-when-waving-something-around * http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200708/N07.0822.1739.39180.htm * http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200709/N07.0910.1759.12944.htm * http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/888/888661p1.html * http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/photos/castlevania-judgement-1/988920/ * Exerpts of Nintendo Power review, confirming the above characters * The Fist toer list Category: GamesCategory:Castlevania Judgment Category:Wii Games